


I'm Fine

by Dogsocks



Series: Words Not Spoken [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, POV Alternating, Sickfic, mentions of abuse, pretty fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 14:05:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7442095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dogsocks/pseuds/Dogsocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm fine," Kyoutani replies, making a poor attempt at sounding okay.<br/>"No, no you are not."</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Fine

**Author's Note:**

> I was reading flu symptoms and one said "reduced ability to exercise". I couldn't help myself, so, I just wrote this for fun. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> (As always, it makes a little more sense if you read the rest of the stories, mostly the one where Yahaba is sick, but you don't have to.)

Yahaba walks into the locker room after a really good practice. Ever since they started dating, Yahaba has noticed that him and Kyoutani play together better than they ever have. It's nice to finish a practice like this, feeling good about how the they and the team are progressing.

As he walks in, Yahaba sees Kyoutani pulling his shirt over his head. He could stand there and just appreciate the way the muscles in his back move as he does so, acknowledge for a minute how attractive Kyoutani is, but these thoughts are interrupted by the presence of two new bruises.

For a while, there weren't actually any new bruises, so maybe his dad actually felt some sympathy when Shiba had died. But, then again, there were calm periods like this even before that. Yahaba had to wonder whether those times were caused by his dad drinking less, or Kyoutani holding back more. 

He would never know. Kyoutani didn't like to talk about the issue much and Yahaba felt bad pressing unless Kyoutani had brought it up. Whenever he did, Kyoutani would get defensive, like Yahaba was cornering him, and he definitely doesn't want that.

He's dragged out of his thoughts by the sound of Kyoutani sniffling. Is he crying? No. Even when Kyoutani is turned away, Yahaba can tell that's not it.

"Are you sick?" Yahaba asks, walking up and opening his own locker.

"I think I might be catching a cold or something," he replies, sniffing again as he buttons his shirt. "It's fine though."

"Don't go getting sick and missing practice. And don't sniffle."

"It's a cold, maybe, it's not a big deal. I'm still going to school."

"You better be," Oikawa coos from somewhere across the room. "I need all my players."

"Maybe now I won't," Kyoutani grumbles with a smirk, taking Yahaba by the hand and leading him towards the door.

"I heard that!"

***

Shit.

Kyoutani wakes up the next morning and he feels at least a hundred times worse than he did the day before. There's a horrible taste in his mouth from mouth breathing all night because of how damn stuffed up his nose is. Upon swallowing, Kyoutani also realizes that his sore throat is worse than it was yesterday. 

On top of it all, he's so fucking tired. That, mixed with this incredibly shitty feeling, makes Kyoutani want to do nothing but roll over, pull the blankets over his head, and pretend it's the weekend. But it's not. It's Wednesday. But sleep would be so good right now. This sucks, but it's fine. This is fine. It's just a damn cold. He can go to school.

Kyoutani sits up in bed with a newfound determination, but he sits up way too fast. His head hurts a little when he does so, and he's dizzy for a second, but that's not going to stop him from going to morning practice. So, he gets out of bed to start this terrible day.

 

Kyoutani doesn't feel any better by the time he gets to school. His body feels so weak and useless, like he hasn't eaten in way too long. Wait. He didn't eat yet today. Shit. This is going to suck, but it's just one day. He'll be fine. He just has to get through the day, and then he can go home and sleep. Wow, sleep sounds godly right now. Maybe he'll sleep through English class later.

He doesn't get very far before Oikawa stops him. The third year stands in front of the door to the locker room with his arms crossed, like he's waiting for some kind of explanation. Kyoutani just glares up at him and waits for him to move.

"What do you think you're doing?" Oikawa asks finally.

"Going to practice?" Kyoutani grunts back. Oikawa chuckles a little, which is confusing and also a bit irritating. Why does his morning have to start this way?

"No, you're not," Oikawa states simply.

"What the fuck do you mean I'm not?" Kyoutani barks back. "I'm not walking home, I'm already here!"

"And you shouldn't be. You look terrible, Kyouken-chan," Oikawa says as Iwaizumi appears behind him. "You're obviously sick, and I don't need you at practice infecting everyone else with your icky germs."

"It's a cold," Kyoutani fires back without much confidence. Oikawa laughs even louder, and Kyoutani really considers just pushing him out of the way. Before he can try, Iwaizumi does, shoving Oikawa off the small step and scolding him for being rude. Oikawa squawks at Iwaizumi as he hits the ground.

"Although Oikawa is an idiot," Iwaizumi says to Kyoutani, while still looking at a pouty Oikawa, "I do agree with him. If you're sick you should rest. Pushing yourself is only going to make it worse." 

"It's fine," Kyoutani persists as Oikawa angrily brushes the dirt off his pants. "I've played through worse." That's probably true, but Kyoutani isn't actually sure how long he's going to be able to practice like this. His headache has gotten worse, and listening to Oikawa argue with Iwaizumi isn't helping.

"Fine," Oikawa says finally, "But you aren't setting one foot in this gym until you put this on your gross face." Oikawa holds out a mask with two fingers as if the mask itself is infected. Kyoutani didn't have any at home, so in a way it was good that Oikawa had a mask, but at the same time, wearing it at practice is going to suck.

Kyoutani grunts and snatches the mask and grimaces down at it. "How am I supposed to practice in this? It's going to be so hard to breathe in this piece of crap!"

"Too bad. It's that or no practice."

This is definitely going to be awful, but Kyoutani is at least going to try.

***

"Oh my god, Kyoutani, are you okay?" Yahaba asks as Kyoutani stumbles into the gym. The presence of a mask is surprising, and Kyoutani's state isn't hidden by it at all. He's slouching farther than usual as he walks over, and he definitely looks worse than he did yesterday. More than anything, he just looks tired, actually.

"I'm fine," Kyoutani says, voice coming out more rough than usual. 

"I don't believe that for a second," Matsukawa cuts in as he walks by. "You look like you're going to either pass out or throw up."

"And we haven't even started stretching yet," Hanamaki coos from behind them.

"I'm not going to throw up," Kyoutani grunts back.

"That's a shame," Hanamaki says with a smirk as he passes. "You could've thrown up in Oikawa's pretty shoes."

"I can hear you guys!"

 

Kyoutani is most certainly _not fine_. Soon into practice, Yahaba notices that Kyoutani is not doing too well, to say the least. He's slower than usual, less coordinated, and he's already getting winded, or maybe it just looks like he's breathing heavy because he has to use his mouth. No, he's tired. He stands, hunched over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath when Yahaba finally walks over.

"Kyoutani, you need to stop. This is ridiculous," Yahaba says as Kyoutani straightens back up to cough into his elbow. 

"I'm fine," Kyoutani replies, making a poor attempt at sounding okay.

"No, no you are not."

"Kyoutani, you should at least sit down for a while if you're not feeling good," Iwaizumi chimes in from across the court.

"I'm good," Kyoutani insists, sounding very much the opposite. It's impossible to persuade him, so eventually everyone reluctantly resumes pratcice. It still worries Yahaba, and he's focusing more on Kyoutani than practice at this point. At this rate, Kyoutani is going to either sit down of his own free will, or pass out anyways, and Yahaba is just waiting to see which it is. 

About five minutes after claiming to be 'fine', Yahaba finds Kyoutani grabbing onto his shoulder with more than a little bit of his weight. He looks over to see Kyoutani with his eyes closed and his head down. He's pulled the mask aside in an attempt to get more air. 

"Are you okay?" Why did he say that? Of course he isn't okay.

"I'm just a little dizzy," he says. He's breathing like he just ran a mile as he clings to Yahaba, and Yahaba is almost sure he's about to have to catch an unconscious Kyoutani. "Just give me a minute," he continues as he slides his hand off Yahaba's shoulder.

"No," Yahaba says firmly, grabbing Kyoutani around the waist and practically dragging him to the bench, "You're sitting down before you pass out." Kyoutani doesn't squirm away or even protest. He only nods his head and lets Yahaba drag him off the court.

***

Kyoutani is painfully aware of how many eyes are on him as he lets Yahaba practically carry him to the bench, but at this point Kyoutani really could not care less. All he has the energy to focus on right now is _not_ passing out.

Yahaba puts Kyoutani on the end of the bench and he immediately lays down because wow he is not okay right now. He's breathing way too heavy, he's somehow more fucking congested than he was an hour ago, and his whole body feels shaky as hell. Kyoutani puts his arms above his head and closes his eyes because the way the room is spinning right now is starting to make him a little nauseous. 

Yahaba comes back, because apparently he left at some point, with a water bottle and makes Kyoutani sit up to actually drink some of it before laying back down. For a little while, a few people from the team are hovering around, asking if he's okay and shit like that, but the coaches send them all back to practice. Even Yahaba reluctantly leaves to continue on with morning practice.

After telling the coaches that he'll be fine, Kyoutani spends the rest of practice laying on the bench with his eyes closed and his arms across his face, feeling like complete shit. All he can do is listen to the sounds of practice, and he can't decide if that's a nice distraction, or extremely frustrating. Kyoutani wants to be practicing so bad, but he'd be surprised if he could even stand up straight right now.

***

After practice ends, Yahaba walks over to where Kyoutani is still on the bench. He honestly feels really bad, because Kyoutani looks truly and totally miserable. As everyone begins to clean the gym, Yahaba nudges Kyoutani's arm to get his attention, though it takes a few tries before Kyoutani actually sits up, squinting at the bright light in the gym.

"Come on," Yahaba says, trying to help him to his feet, "Oikawa and Iwaizumi told me to take you to the nurse when practice was done."

"What? I hate the nurse. I'll just go to class," Kyoutani grumbles lazily, leaning most of his weight on Yahaba.

"No. No you will _not_." Yahaba says as he drags Kyoutani towards the door. "What, do you think I'm just going to carry you to all your classes?"

"Fine. Whatever," Kyoutani grumbles, almost whines. There's not even a hint of bite behind the words. It would almost be cute if Yahaba weren't currently dragging Kyoutani's limp, sweaty, coughing body through the hallway. Maybe it's still cute.

***

"Can you come pick me up?" Kyoutani asks, readily prepared for a no as he lays in the nurse's office on the phone with his dad. At least it's the morning, and his dad will just be grumpy and tired instead of drunk and angry. Though, he won't be happy about having to leave work.

 _"What? From where?"_ his dad asks from the other end. There's a lot of background noise, and he's yelling a bit until the noise fades and Kyoutani can hear a door close.

"Um, the school." Wow, Kyoutani sounds terrible right now. He feels just as terrible. Everything hurts and this room is too fucking bright. He closes his eyes and really hopes he won't fall asleep on the phone.

 _"Why? Did you do something?"_ his dad asks skeptically.

"No, no, I'm just sick," Kyoutani clarifies quickly. 

_"Why can't you just walk home like you always do?"_

"I don't think I even can. I almost passed out at practice today," Kyoutani says, lowering his voice because he had avoided telling the nurse about that part. "I wouldn't have called you if I could just walk home. You don't have to come, if you're busy, or whatever. I can always stay in the nurse's office until the end of the day and have someone walk with me or something. I don't know."

It's silent for a bit, and Kyoutani feels stupid for calling at all. He's about to just hang up and ask Yahaba to drag him home when he hears his dad sigh loudly into the phone. _"Fine, I'll be there in like twenty minutes,"_ he grumbles. Wow. Today may suck a whole fucking lot, but maybe now it sucks just a little less.

 

Kyoutani is so damn tired, and his body feels like an empty battery at this point. The second he stumbles into the car, he's falling asleep against the window. All he wants to do is just sleep, anywhere is fine. This works.

"Thanks," Kyoutani mumbles, "For driving me and stuff." Wow, he really sounds gross right now. The sore throat and the stuffy nose mixed with the sleepiness makes something that's a whole new kind of pathetic. Whatever. Kyoutani doesn't care.

"Don't worry about it," his dad grunts back.

Kyoutani thinks he was about to respond to that. He was, wasn't he? Maybe not. Either way, he's pretty much asleep, and being slumped awkwardly against a car window has never been more comfortable in his life.

 

Kyoutani wakes up and he's floating. That's fucking weird. Is he dreaming? No, he's definitely awake, and definitely floating. Upon further observation, he's actually being carried, through what is probably his house. This is weird. Kyoutani can't even remember the last time someone carried him like this.

As he's set quite ungracefully onto the couch, he can finally see the body attached to the arms and holy shit it's his dad. What the fuck. He can't even begin to remember the last time his dad carried him like this, or at all really.

"Huh?" is all his mind can provide for him to say.

"You were asleep in the car. I tried to wake you up like ten damn times but you were seriously out cold," his dad responds as he grabs a blanket and tosses it at Kyoutani. "I haven't had to pick you up like that in years. You're fucking heavy now."

Kyoutani doesn't even know what to do right now. He's still kind of half asleep and all he knows is that he's fucking cold and there's a blanket within reach now. He wraps himself in the blanket and rolls onto his side.

At some point he's suddenly aware of the laundry flying towards him. "Change out of your damn uniform," his father grunts from somewhere in the room. "You'll ruin it like that."

Kyoutani picks up the clothes. It's just a t-shirt and some sweats that he distinctly remembers being on his floor this morning. He doesn't want to get up, but he doesn't want to sleep in a blazer either.

He can hear footsteps leaving the living room and moving back to the front door. Kyoutani is vaguely aware of his father saying he's going back to work as he changes out of his uniform. He grunts in response, and finally he can just sleep.

***

After the afternoon practice, Yahaba decides to go to Kyoutani's house to check on him. Kyoutani came over when Yahaba was throwing up everywhere, so it only seems fair to return the favor. Then again, Yahaba hadn't really wanted Kyoutani there, and odds are, Kyoutani won't want to be taken care of, either. In the end it had been worth it, so it's worth trying.

Yahaba strolls up to the front door and knocks. It's silent for a minute, besides Lady barking, and then there's some grumbling from a direction that must mean Kyoutani is in the livingroom. Suddenly, there's a loud thud followed by even louder grumbling. Yahaba waits patiently as soft footsteps approach the other side of the door.

The door swings open to reveal Kyoutani and a very excited Lady. Yahaba saw him earlier, but wow, he looks even worse now. He's slouching against the doorway, and he looks completely exhausted, to say the least. He has bags under his eyes and looks like he might have been asleep on the couch. From the way he rubs his arm with an annoyed expression, Yahaba can assume that loud thud was Kyoutani rolling off and hitting the floor.

Kyoutani looks sicker than he did earlier by a lot. His nose is red from blowing it, meaning at least he listened to Yahaba's advice about not sniffling. He definitely looks paler than usual, a sheen of sweat across his skin causing his thin t-shirt to stick to him. Despite this, he's shivering just slightly. 

"What are you doing here?" Kyoutani asks, his voice rough, probably from coughing. "You didn't tell me you were coming."

"I came to check on you because you're sick and I care about you," Yahaba says as Kyoutani moves over to let him inside. "At least I was nice enough to use the door," Yahaba continues with a smirk as he slides out of his shoes. Kyoutani huffs and crosses his arms around his torso. Yahaba can tell it's an excuse to either warm up, or hide the shivering. It doesn't work.

"You're shivering."

"I was under a bunch of blankets before you showed up. It's colder out here," Kyoutani replies.

"And you're sweating."

"I was under a bunch of blankets," Kyoutani repeats, looking away. 

Yahaba sighs, throwing a hand out to rest on Kyoutani's forehead. He flinches back slightly with a confused expression, but he doesn't say anything or try to move Yahaba's hand.

"You're warm," Yahaba says, pulling back his hand.

"I'm always warm." True.

"Well then you're hot."

"I'm always hot," Kyoutani says with a stupid smirk. The statement becomes less sly when his small chuckle that follows evolves into a loud coughing fit.

***

"Anyways," Kyoutani says after the coughing has subsided, "You don't need to stay, I'm fine."

"You have a fever," Yahaba says, walking into the kitchen. "Besides, you took care of me, so now it's my turn to take care of you. Whether you like it or not." 

"That was different. You can't catch food poisoning, dipshit," Kyoutani shoots back. "I don't want you to get sick."

"Don't care," Yahaba coos from the kitchen.

"I'll be fine. I'm always by myself when I'm sick anyways," Kyoutani says as he wanders towards the kitchen.

"Have you eaten anything at all today?" Yahaba asks turning away from the cabinet he's rifling through to look at Kyoutani. Shit. He hasn't, so he just looks at the floor. "Drank anything?" Nope. "Taken any medicine or done anything at all to try and feel better?" Damn, Kyoutani hadn't even thought of any of that. 

"The nurse gave me a cough drop," Kyoutani replies weakly.

"Okay. So, have you done anything else besides sleep?" Yahaba asks, eyebrows raised with victory in his voice. Kyoutani is about to protest, but instead of words coming out of his mouth, he just ends up coughing hard into his elbow. It hurts his sore throat, and he finds himself grimacing at the floor. Honestly, he only feels worse than he did before he fell asleep.

"That's what I thought," Yahaba says, turning back to the cabinet and pulling out a mug and a bowl. "Go lay down on the couch. I'll make you some food."

Kyoutani wants to protest, but he really doesn't have the energy to. He nods weakly and shuffles back into the living room. He feels so shitty, and Yahaba is definitely right about the fever thing. Kyoutani flops onto the couch and wraps his shivering body in the blankets, but it feels way too fucking hot under there. He grumbles, kicking off part of the blanket, but then he's just cold again and he can't reach it to pull it back on. 

Giving up on reaching a comfortable temperature, Kyoutani settles for trying to blow his nose again. Emphasis on trying, because no matter how many fucking times he blows his nose, he still can't breathe through it at all. He reaches for the tissues on the coffee table, but they're just a little too far. He can only brush the tips of his fingers against the box.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kyoutani grumbles in a pathetic manner that he really hopes Yahaba is too far away to hear. He tries to lean forward a little more, but all he manages to do is knock the box off the coffee table, completely out of reach from the couch. Great. Everything is fucking great. Kyoutani groans loudly and flops onto his side, giving up on the tissues, because he sure as hell isn't getting up right now.

He decides to try to sleep again, but the fever is making it especially hard to get any kind of comfortable. First he's cold, then he's hot, then he's too damn cold, then it's fucking hot! He kicks the blankets off as quickly as his weak body can manage. They get caught around his feet which is so damn _frustrating_.

***

Yahaba walks into the living room to find Kyoutani grumbling pathetically to himself as he tries, and fails, at winning a battle with his blanket. It's a little funny, honestly, but Yahaba does feel bad for him. He looks miserable.

"Sit up. I brought you some soup," Yahaba says as he sets the hot bowl onto the coffee table. 

"Can't I just take a nap?" Kyoutani grumbles into the couch. "I'm not even hungry."

"No, you haven't eaten all day! You need to have at least a little bit," Yahaba says as he bends over to pull Kyoutani into a sitting position. He tries to fight it at first, but eventually he gives up and goes dead weight, which isn't much easier than before.

"You didn't have any chicken noodle soup, so the closest thing I could find was some chicken flavored instant ramen," Yahaba says, as Kyoutani finally picks up the spoon. "It's pretty much the same."

***

Okay, Kyoutani was not aware of how hungry he was until he's eating. God, had he really not eaten anything all day? Either way, chicken ramen has never tasted so good in his life.

He continues to eat while Yahaba goes back to the kitchen. He returns with a steaming mug and a water bottle that he sets down next to the half empty bowl of soup.

"I'm not hungry," Yahaba mocks in a poor imitation of Kyoutani's voice.

"Shut up."

"Anyways, I brought you water, because you need to actually drink something, and some tea for your throat," Yahaba says as he pulls out his phone. "It's the same kind you made me, the ginger stuff. You had some in your cabinet. I tried to make it how you said, with the juice and the honey. I don't know if I did it right," he continues, sounding maybe a little embarrassed. It's pretty cute. 

Kyoutani stops eating to take a sip of the tea. It's not exactly how his mom used to make it, but close enough. It's sweet that Yahaba even tried. More importantly, it does make his throat feel a little better.

"It's good," Kyoutani says after noticing how nervous Yahaba still was. He seems to relax a little before getting up again.

He leaves the room, but returns quickly with a cloth and some medicine. "Take two of these, it will help with some of the symptoms," Yahaba says, handing him a little bottle. Kyoutani does as he's told, and Yahaba sits on the couch again.

"You don't have to stay," Kyoutani says, though at the same time he slumps back over to rest his head in Yahaba's lap. He feels a little better, but all he wants is to lay down.

"I know," Yahaba says, putting the cold cloth on Kyoutani''s forehead. It feels great, yet at the same time, it makes him cold again. He manages to pull the blanket back up over himself. It's not perfect, but this is as comfortable as he's ever going to get.

***

Yahaba reads from his phone in one hand as he runs the other through Kyoutani's short hair. There's a movie playing in the background, and Yahaba can't tell if Kyoutani is watching it, or asleep again.

"You awake?" Yahaba asks. Kyoutani hums in response. "Okay, so, according to my mom, Watari, and the internet, you have the flu."

"How long does that last?" Kyoutani whines, not really wanting the answer.

"It says usually a few days to a week," Kyoutani groans loudly in protest. "With 'a reduced ability to exercise'," he continues, and Kyoutani grumbles even louder.

"What the fuck does that mean?" 

"It means you can't practice until you get better, so don't bother dragging yourself to school again," Yahaba replies. "You're better off staying home."

"No."

"Yes. I don't want you passing out on me at practice," Yahaba says, nudging his shoulder.

"Fine," he mumbles back eventually.

"Don't worry, I'll come visit you," Yahaba coos, "And you can deal with me every day."

"Don't I already?"

"Oh, be quiet. You love me," Yahaba says with a smirk. Kyoutani huffs a laugh, but doesn't protest any further.

**Author's Note:**

> Gotta love sick Kyoutani. Thanks for reading and to anyone who leaves me comments or kudos!


End file.
